Sins of the father
"ALL ARMED UNITS TO THE SOUTH GATE TO ENGAGE 682 IMMEDIATELY! SOMEONE ESCORT 131-A AND 131-B TO FLOOR B-1! 106 CONTAINMENT TEAM READY THE FEMUR BREAKER-"
There was a reason Jack Bright was the head of site 19. Very few people would have the mental fortitude to stand calm and rational in a situation as dire as this one. And even less would be able to handle the complex command acrobatics needed to coordinate all of the site's forces to hold back and re-contain all of the anomalies that have broken free.
Dr. Bright may be eccentric and unorthodox at times, but no one should ever forget that they still are one of the most experienced, intelligent, and valuable members the foundation has ever had. Their immortality may be a curse to them, but it's a blessing for the foundation.
Luz could only sit and wait while the chaos ensued outside her room. She was nervous and scared, but the doors and walls of her unit were designed to keep anything and everything outside…
…
Almost anything.
…
She heard a noise
A strange noise
And then she noticed a black spot on her wall that wasn't there before
A black spot that grew larger and larger
Until a decrepit hand started to emerge from the black spot
"DIRECTOR!"
Jack turned to the camera feed the video operator was pointing to, and their expression turned to one of abject horror as he saw what could only be described as a worst case scenario.
Time was of the essence, and right now, only one decision made sense.
"OPEN THE UNIT!"
"BUT DIRECTOR-"
"DID I FUCKING STUTTER OR WHAT?! 106 BREACHED INTO 6124'S UNIT! ARE YOU TOO BRAINDEAD FUCKING STUPID TO PROCESS THAT OR SOMETHING?! WHAT DO YOU THINK COULD HAPPEN IF SHE TOUCHES THE OLD MAN?!"
The prospect of the little girl getting attacked by 106 was bad enough, but the idea of 6124's anomaly somehow taking hold of 106's body was infinitely worse. Not long ago, the O- council had labeled such an instance, as well as several other similar instances, as potential XK-class END OF THE WORLD scenarios, CK-class REESTRUCTURING scenarios, or in the case of powerful entities like 106, ZK-class REALITY FAILURE scenarios.
Without missing a beat, the operator used Bright's director key to activate the override to the door and open it.
Luz saw the door open and immediately rand outside, but with everything that was going on, she had no idea where she could go to be safe. That's when Bright's voice came on from the intercom speakers in the hallway:
"Luz! It's Jack! Listen to me, it's not safe out here, but it's worse in your room, so we need to get you somewhere else quick. I have an idea: there is only one place that old creep cannot follow you into, so you need to get there as fast as you can. Head down the hallway and take the elevator 2 floors down, then head straight down until you find a door with the number 166 in it, go in there and stay close to the person inside, ok? She is the only one here that the old man can't get close to, so even if he goes in there, you should be fine! We'll come get you both when it's all under control. AND REMEMEBR TO NOT TOUCH ANYONE OR ANYTHING LIVING, OK?!"
Luz saw the creepy rotten face of the old man coming out of her room and decided to just do what Jack said. She turned around and bolted out of there towards the elevator.
"166?! Director, are you insane?! What about the biohazard suit?!"
"She'll be fine"
"What do you mean "she'll be fine"?!"
"Look, as long as she doesn't touch her, it's going to be fine. We tried to keep as much we could under wraps, but right now that went out the damn window: Cognitive anomalies aren't the only ones that do nothing to her. She seems to be unaffected by any and all anomalies, period. Even if the old man got her, all he could do is grab her, and with his rotten muscles, there is no way he could actually hurt her, that's not the problem here. So staying with 166 should be fine."
"… oh… I see… So… unaffected by ANY anomalies? Sort of like-"
"Yes, exactly like Clef. Don't think about it too much, we have more important shit to deal with right now."
The operator sat silently after hearing such a thing. Questions swirling in his mind that would have to wait for later. But one thought kept nagging at him regardless of how much he tried to focus on the breach taking place…
…
…
…
…
She is so much like Clef…
…
…
…
…
…
166, the door Jack mentioned.
Luz opened it and went in as fast as she could, looking for the person that she was supposed to stay with. She closed the door and looked around.
"… Hello? Anyone here?"
"… u-um… hi?"
Luz turned to one corner of the room and saw someone there.
She seemed like a normal teenage girl, except she had eyes of two different colors, one red and one blue… as well as antlers, a tail, and hooves for feet… ok, maybe not that normal after all.
"… h-hi, my name is Luz… w-what's yours?"
Luz was nervous, she hadn't actually been in the same room as someone else for almost a full year, so she tried to make conversation for time being. The girl got a bit closer, so now Luz could see that she was a fair bit taller than her, she looked like a teen or something like that.
"… My name is Gaea. Nice to meet you Luz… I'm sorry of I'm a bit uneasy right now, it's just that you are the first person to come in here without a bulky orange suit. Not even father Davis comes in like that… Say, are you ok?"
"… Y-yeah…"
Gaea noticed that Luz's clothes didn't seem to rot away like most other people's did when they got close to her unprotected. It was weird, but she wasn't about to complain about someone who could actually hang out with her.
"So, why are you in here?"
Gaea asked as she closed the door. There was a lot of noise outside, and she had a bad feeling about it, so she figured it was best to keep the door shut for now.
"… Jack told me to come here. Bad stuff is happening out there, and they said I would be fine here. Hey told me to stay until everything was ok."
"OH… well… I suppose that makes sense."
Jack… Jack… who was Jack again?... the director, right? Well, if they told her to come here, then it must have been for good reason. Gaea sat in her bed and motioned Luz to sit with her. She did, but Gaea noticed that Luz kept her distance.
"Well, while we wait, perhaps we could talk for a bit?"
The sounds of screams and bullets could be heard even in here.
…
…
…
A man walked in the halls of site 19.
His hair was blonde and messy, and his eyes were a deep, penetrating blue that made you uneasy just by knowing they were looking at you. He walked decisively, with his assault rifle in hand and his famous ukulele strapped to his back.
He walked towards one place, the only place he cared about right now. He wasn't allowed to go there, but find him someone who would stop him in the middle of the hell on earth that was breaking loose today.
Bright saw the man in the camera array, and they knew exactly where he was headed. But instead of stopping him, they chose to simply inform him of the current situation. The intercom speakers came alive:
"Clef."
"Get off my ass, Bright."
"I'm not gonna stop you, don't worry. I just wanted to let you know something: 6124 is in there."
Dr. Alto Clef stopped dead in his tracks.
"… WHAT?! WHY THE FUCK IS SHE IN THERE?!"
"I told her to. Listen, it's going to be fine so long as-"
"Fucking- WHY?! ARE YOU FUCKING STUPID?!"
Before Jack could finish explaining, Clef took off running towards 166's containment unit.
He got to the door and slammed it open.
"GAEA?! GAEA ARE YOU OK?! WHERE ARE YOU?!"
He then saw Gaea sitting on her bed in the middle of the room with little Luz.
"Oh, thank god! You're ok."
Few times in his life had Clef felt relief like this.
But now, came what had to come next.
Clef closed the door behind him and set down his rifle on the floor, making sure he could always be in reaching distance if needed.
He took a quick look at Luz.
"… Nice to meet you."
"… Nice to meet you t-too."
He then turned his attention to Gaea.
"…"
"…"
They were both silent, unsure of what to do or say. Clef had waited for far too long for this, but he had no idea what he was even trying to do now that he was here.
Gaea was nervous. Even though she had never met this man, there was a strange… warmth… that she felt from him. It was odd, when he walked in, she felt… safe.
Clef sat on the floor and waited with them.
"…"
"… H-hi…"
"… Hello… How are you doing?"
"… I'm doing fine… I-I'm sorry, who are you?"
"… I'm… well, right now I'm going by Alto Clef… it's not actually my name, but it works for the time being."
"… Alto … Clef… you… you wrote that letter!"
"Heh, so you actually read it? I thought they took it away as soon as I dropped it in."
"I… I knew they would take it, so I read it quickly and put it back…"
"I see…"
"…"
"…"
They remained silent for a while. Who knows how long it had been.
After a while, Gaea stood up and got closer to Clef. She looked at him closely, and she kneeled down to look him in the eyes.
Luz noticed that her blue eye was a lot like Clef's eyes.
Clef sat still. He wanted to say so much, but he had no idea how, or what to even say.
She must hate him, hate him with her soul for the nightmare of a life she had lived. Hate him with every fiber of her being.
It was his fault.
It was his cursed existence.
It was all because of him.
Of course she hated him.
She kept staring at him. He was unsure of what she was thinking, but surely she was about to slap or punch him. He deserved it. He braced himself, knowing that this would hurt more than anything else he had ever experienced in his long life.
But she didn't hit him.
…
…
…
She hugged him.
She was crying, crying tears of happiness.
He was shocked.
She was so happy to finally meet him that she couldn't even muster the words for it.
Clef was still
…
But the single tear that came out was all he needed.
Like a dam that broke after decades of holding back, all the pain and suffering he had held back for so long had come bursting out. He hugged her tight and hard. He was crying his heart out with her.
He was happy.
Happy that she was fine.
Happy that she was alive.
Happy that she had been born.
Happy that he was alive.
Happy that he was here.
Happy that she had forgiven him.
Decades of agony broke out and were washed away for this one moment. For once, it felt like life wasn't a never ending inescapable hellscape. Like he wasn't doomed to destroy everything he loved, and that there was hope for a future where things were better.
After a while, they separated. A smile on their faces this time.
They had so much to talk about, and they knew this probably was going to be the last time they ever could.
But before they could, a loud banging from outside the door interrupted everything.
Soon the door came crashing down, and the hideous sight of 049's reanimated puppets flooded the doorframe.
Clef kicked his assault rifle up and grabbed it mid-air (to show off, clearly).
He then produced a small pistol from his lab coat and coked both barrels.
"Well, figures things go to shit the second they seem to be going well. Wouldn't be the foundation otherwise."
Clef seemed oddly calm. It was reassuring to see someone look like they have a handle of the situation in the middle of all of this.
He turned around to talk to Luz for a moment.
"Listen kid, I'll tell you about it later, but for now, just know that I know that shithead of a father you have better than most people. And I can't tell you for sure that you got nothing to worry about. He is a massive ass, but he isn't exactly the kind of ass these uptight O5 fuckheads think he is. You are going to be fine."
He then turned to get a good look at his daughter for what may be the last time ever.
It was sad, but it was alright now. He could finally begin to move forward. Not for his sake, but for hers. Things had to change, and he was going to make them change.
"Don't worry sweety."
He turned to face the horde and lifted his guns.
"PAPA'S GOT THIS"